Strawberries – May Be Killing You

Strawberries have officially replaced apples as the most pesticide ridden produce.

According to the 2016 Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Shopper’s Guide, nearly all “conventional” strawberry samples 98% tested by federal officials had detectable pesticide residues. In addition to that, 40% of all strawberries had residues of 10 or more pesticides.

Some of the chemicals detected on strawberries are linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental damage, hormone disruption and neurological problems.

EWG reports that each acre in California is treated with as much as 300 pounds of pesticides. More than 60 pounds are conventional chemicals that “may leave post harvest residues” but most are fumigants.Strawberry dangers

I have to question how effective cold water washing of fruit and vegetables really is in removing pesticides.

14 responses to “Strawberries – May Be Killing You”

Have not been able to successfully grow strawberries. Tried last 2 years and we keep killing them off. It’s either this Oklahoma sun or our clay soil! Maybe I should try one of those crocks that people use? I add about 1/4 cup vinegar to water to soak fruits and vegetables. Hoping it helps remove pesticides.

On the subject of Organic.
Yesterday my son-n-law stopped at a local farm store to pick-up a $9.00 50# bag of hen scratch.
FYI, hen scratch is about 75% maize(sorghum) 25% mixed crushed corn with a little bit of black sun flower seeds added. Market price of sorghum is about $3.90 for 50#. Corn is about $3.00 for 50#.

Anyway they were out of my usual hen scratch, but they did have a ‘new’ all organic hen scratch for ONLY $27.00 for a 40# bag of feed.

Sad Smile.. Feeding certified ‘All Organic’ feed would make my home grow eggs about about 7 or 8 dollars a dozen. Who in their right mind will pay $27.00 dollars for 40 or 50 pounds of maize?

As a person who grew up on a farm and worked on seed production as a teen, I have a deep respect for the problems farmers face in bringing a clean attractive product to the market. That said, we have fallen off the deep end in using unsustainable environmentally harmful quick fixes in a farming economy that many decades ago veered towards massive holdings of land, and monocultures. I hope I see some trends now (like the suggestions in this blog) that may lead us back to another more mindful way of growing food, marketing it and consuming it. I strongly applaud home gardeners who are usually far more efficient and sustainable in producing a superior product. But two things are clear– monocultures lead to boom and bust crops unless you use strong chemical aids, and two– the consumer must be willing to accept the cosmetically challenged fruit! And maybe three– we need to go back to eating what is in season, and stop pandering to the entitlement that makes us all feel we should have raspberries from Chile in the middle of our winter.

At the risk of being very long-winded, for people interested in cultivating their own strawberries, there really are a lot of pests out to get them and the fungal infections are terrific. Thinly scattered diatomaceous earth is not toxic and will to a degree discourage many pests like sow bugs– I usually also throw out a bit of the iron-based slug and snail bait –which will not harm pets. There are many organic pesticides– just remember that organic is not a magic word. A toxin is a toxin whether or not it is “naturally-occurring”. Read the labels, especially about time of day for application (so you’re not killing off bees, or burning your strawberry leaves,) and wear gloves. In my climate, the soil is full of fungal spores so I would recommend a biodegradable mulch cloth to keep the fruit from swift infection. I also love pine mulch though it’s not available where I live.

Too funny! I just finished reading about this in one of my magazines – made a comment to my sister (we own the farm/live together) about it and how we are glad to be growing our own – toxin free! LOL Thanx for sharing! Hope your gardens are growing well!